CAT 2020 Analysis by Endeavor Careers: Slot 1, 2 and 3

CAT 2020 question paper was of moderate difficulty level, with tricky VARC and relatively easy QA. Read CAT 2020 Analysis by Vijitha Kamath of Endeavor Careers.

CAT 2020 Analysis by Endeavor Careers –  Hope in pandemic times! CAT 2020 took off on a good note with students’ anxieties and anticipations of the expected format and pandemic arrangements addressed positively. Not only were the arrangements smooth with COVID-19 regulations strictly observed, the test also did not throw major surprises in terms of number and types of questions.

Read below, in-depth CAT 2020 analysis including section wise difficulty levels, topic wise distribution of questions, number of good attempts and expected CAT cut off percentile.

Good attempts: 13 -14 questions

QA Section

QA section of CAT 2020 was the standard textbook sectional with a neat balance of question types. With a total of 26 questions, QA had eight non-negative, key-in questions. The 11 Arithmetic questions covered almost all topics. The eight to nine Algebra questions focused mainly on Functions, Logarithm and Quadratic equation. In addition, there were three to four questions of Numbers and three questions of Geometry.  Interestingly, Permutation-Combination and Probability questions did not appear in CAT this year. The overall difficulty level of this section was moderate.

Good attempts: 14-15 questions

CAT 2020 Analysis Slot 2

The overall format of the slot 2 paper was as follows:

VARC Section

Once again, VARC section continued to trouble students. With 18 questions spread across four RCs, this section provided some challenge to the candidates, with speculation that they were slightly more difficult than the RCs of lot 1. The RCs were around 450 to 550 words in length, with two RCs carrying five questions each and two RCs carrying four questions each. Like slot 1, the density of language and the closeness of options required students to spend more time reading them and regressing to get the answers. The RC topics were energy and environment – investing in renewable energy technologies, international trade – piracy in international trade, psychology – Freudian models of aggression, and philosophy – a study of visualization. The questions ranged from inferences, main idea questions, except questions, strengthen, to parallel reasoning.

The VA section had eight questions, three summary of around 100 words each -slightly more difficult than those of slot 1, three parajumbles with four sentences each, and two Out of Context with five sentences each. This sub-section was easier in comparison and had five non-negative key-in questions.

Good attempts: 16 -18

DILR Section

The slight departure from previous years in terms of number of questions per set continued in slot 2. With three sets carrying fourquestions each, and two sets carrying six questions each, the 24 questions of DILR had three sets of LR and two sets of DI. There were also six non-negative key-in questions.

Good attempts: 13 -14 questions

QA Section

QA section slot 2, with a total of 26 questions, continued the balanced distribution of questions across arithmetic and algebra. Arithmetic had about 10-11 questions, with almost all topics represented. There were 9 -10 algebra questions, two to three questions on numbers and four questions of geometry. Slightly time consuming, this section nevertheless, was moderate overall. With the right selection of questions, a student should have been able navigate through this sectional easily.

Overall difficulty level: Moderate

Good attempts: 15 -16

CAT 2020 Analysis Slot 3

The overall format of the slot 3 paper was as follows:

VARC Section

In slot 2 of CAT 2020, the VARC sectional was again a troublesome sectional, in comparison with the other sections but its difficulty level paled out. With 18 questions spread across four RCs. The RCs were around 400 to 550 words in length, with two RCs carrying five questions each and two RCs carrying four questions each. Like slot 1 and 2, the density of language and the closeness of options required students to spend more time reading them and regressing to get the answers. The RC topics were sociology – travel writing and feminism during colonial times, economics – the need for economic literacy in the general population, technology – screen time and undercurrents of social class, and philosophy – an analysis of human nature. The questions ranged from inferences, main idea questions, except and least questions, strengthen, to parallel reasoning.

The VA section had eight questions, three summary of around 100 words each, three parajumbles with four sentences each, and two Out of Context with five sentences each. This sub-section was easier in comparison and had five non-negative key-in questions.

Good attempts: 18 – 19 questions

DILR Section

The slight departure from previous years in terms of number of questions per set continued in CAT 2020 slot 3 as well. With three sets carrying four questions each, and two sets carrying six questions each, the 24 questions of DILR had three sets of LR and two sets of DI. There were also six non-negative key-in questions.

Good attempts: 13 -14 questions

QA Section

The QA section of slot 3 paper, with a total of 26 questions, tilted the balance towards Algebra with around 11-12 questions from the topic.  This tilt also made the section slightly more tricky and time consuming in comparison to the previous two CAT 2020 slots. Questions on Numbers were also missing in this slot. The questions were distributed across Arithmetic and Algebra. Arithmetic had about 11-12 questions, with topics widely covered. Nevertheless, the QA section can be termed moderate overall. With the right selection of questions, a student should have been able navigate 14-15 attempts in this section.

Overall difficulty level: Moderate

Good attempts: 14 -15

CAT 2020 overall turned out to be a notch higher than CAT 2019, the pandemic and lockdown notwithstanding. Kudos to the CAT authorities on two counts: on being uncompromisingly qualitative, and on seamless COVID-19 safety adherence, over three slots, across the numerous centres, for over 2 lakh candidates. An exemplary exercise in management!

In the test takers’ favour was the respite offered by the familiar question types though the overall number of questions and time duration were changed. No surprises, except for the DI sets with six questions which would have been favorable to students.

CAT 2020 Paper Analysis: Predicted CAT score vs Percentile

Here are the predicted scores versus percentiles of all three slots of CAT 2020:

CAT 2020 Slot 1

CAT 2020 Slot 2

CAT 2020 Slot 3

About the Expert:

Vijitha Kamath - Product Head - Verbal Ability, Endeavor Careers.

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